Meeting of the General Government and the Superiors of the Major Organisms, Sri Lanka, 2-9 march 2026
Dear brothers:
[1] Receive fraternal greetings from the General Government and the Superiors of the Major Organisms of the Congregation, gathered in Sri Lanka from 2 to 9 March to prepare the way for the XXVII General Chapter. From our fraternity, first of all, we wish to express our sincere gratitude to the Delegation of Saint Joseph Vaz, which has welcomed us with such generosity and hospitality. Thank you very much, brothers!
[2] As an extension of the cell where the Congregation was founded, the house that welcomed us –Serene Pastures, of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd – evoked Psalm 23 (22), reminding us that thy rod and thy staff comfort me; that the Lord is our Shepherd and that in our journey as a Congregation, even when we walk through the dark valleys of violence in the world or the weaknesses and illnesses we suffer as a body, we fear nothing because He goes with us.
[3] Our meeting took place at a particularly complex time. While we were gathered, we followed with concern the war in the Middle East—the most recent of so many situations of violence affecting humanity today— and we felt deeply united with so many people who suffer the consequences of conflict, poverty, and injustice. We too have experienced some of the difficulties of this global context: some of our brothers were unable to attend the meeting or had their travel plans disrupted due to flight cancellations. As Sons of the Heart of Mary, called to embrace the Cross of Jesus Christ and glory in it (CC 9), we have felt even more deeply our communion and closeness to the suffering of the world.
[4] In this context, we have shared intense days of prayer, discernment, and fraternal dialogue. Taking up the echoes of the Spirituality Congress held on the occasion of the 175th anniversary of the Congregation, we recognise that we are called to be, above all, mystical missionaries. Here is the heart that unites and gives life to everything else: being rooted in a deep and personal experience of God. From this foundation, two key elements have emerged clearly throughout the meeting, guiding our journey towards the next General Chapter in communion with the Church and the world.
[5] The first is synodality. We have reflected on and experienced in a very concrete way the value of listening as the basis for walking together. The dialogue among us, the contributions received and, in particular, the reflection of Sr. Teresa Maya have helped us to deepen our understanding of the need to create a true culture of listening. Listening to God, listening to our brothers and listening to the People of God. In this listening, we want to pay special attention to the prophetic voices that we discover among us and in our contexts, and to make possible the communal discernment that helps us recognise what the Spirit is asking of us today. We feel called to continue growing in a synodality that is expressed in our communities, in our governance structures, in formation, and in the mission we share with so many lay people with whom we walk our path.
[6] The second key that has emerged strongly is mission, which includes attentive listening to the reality to which we are sent. As missionaries, we are called to look carefully at today’s world in order to recognise what men and women are experiencing today and what they need from us and our charism. The experience of the retreat, illuminated by the Word of God — especially by the text of Isaiah 41:8-20 — reminded us that our vocation always arises from God’s initiative, who calls us, sustains us and sends us without fear to encounter a people thirsting for life. We have clearly felt the call to read together the signs of the times, to listen to the cry of the peripheries and to respond from our missionary charism. The mission impels us to go out, to draw closer to the realities where the hope of the Gospel is most needed and to ask ourselves continually what humanity today asks of Claretian missionaries.
[7] These two keys —synodality and mission— will guide the path of preparation for the next General Chapter. We want this whole process to be an experience truly shared by all and marked by mission, in which the whole Congregation feels involved and participates actively in discernment. The path we have already taken in preparing for the previous Chapter serves as a basis on which to implement some improvements and continue to focus on approaches that we want to consolidate: synodal, narrative, appreciative, discerning.
[8] From this moment on, we invite all Claretian missionaries to walk together in this process, with an open spirit and a willingness to listen to the Spirit who speaks in the reality of our world and in our Claretian life. The Lord, who has called us from the ends of the earth, continues to walk with us and invites us to keep alive the missionary fire that burned in Claret’s heart. He wants to quench the thirst of all who seek water and cannot find it. And he will not abandon us.
[9] The words that began our meeting also mark our conclusion: They were talking about these things when he stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you’ (Lk 24:36). Without a doubt, the Lord desires peace for all his sons and daughters. May the Heart of Mary help us to welcome it and transmit it.
With fraternal affection,
The General Governmentand the Superiors of the Major Organisms of the Congregation
